


Red Flower, Strong Heart

by Inrainbowz



Series: Tumblr Requests [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Prostitution, Kid Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha villagers suck as per usual, Light-Hearted, Oiroke no Jutsu | Sexy no Jutsu, in which Naruto befriended a bunch of prostitute basically, the sandaime isn't of much use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 23:33:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20804813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inrainbowz/pseuds/Inrainbowz
Summary: Possible friends Naruto made as a child and a possible way he came to learn the Sexy no Jutsu.





	Red Flower, Strong Heart

**Author's Note:**

> [From an ask on tumblr :](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/188003067599/fic-tidbit-if-interested-so-i-always-thought-itd)   
_Fic tidbit if interested, so I always thought it'd be an interesting headcanon if Naruto grew up in/near the flower district and was raised/befriended by those ladies of the night. They get looked down upon for their profession he gets treated like shit, etc they have comraderie. And it was through that association that he learnt/developed sexy no jutsu. Like srsly where else does a 10yr old come up with that sort of modelling? Doesn't even find porn until meeting Jiraiya. Look and learn mb?_
> 
> Well, why not?

“Tell me again what happened exactly.”

“He jumped me for no reason, that’s what happened!”

Iruka winced at the loud, angry tone, and by his side Naruto flinched too. But he said nothing.

“Naruto,” the Sandaime urged gently, “is that true?”

The boy only shrugged, looking sideways. His face was scrunched up in a sulking frown, and he had been stubbornly silent ever since the shopkeeper had dragged him all the way to the Hokage office to plead his case. The man’s chin was red and puffy and still sported specks or dry blood – small as he was, Naruto had elected to jump up straight toward the man's face, crushing the man's chin with the top of his head. He had bitten his cheeks hard – his teeth were read when they flashed as he spoke.

“Why did you do it?” the Hokage asked again, to no avail. Naruto refused to answer. “If you won’t explain…”

The threat hung in the air – if he didn’t try to defend himself, they would take the man’s words as the truth and punish the boy accordingly. Iruka had stumbled upon the scene purely by chance, and he was glad he would be here to soften the blow as best as he could, but still, this was pretty serious.

“Naruto, why don’t you tell us what happened?” he tried, puzzled by the boy’s reluctance.

“He doesn’t want to get us into trouble.”

They turned to see two women strolling in, one barely older than Iruka, looking shyly down at the ground and backing up the older one, who was closer to her fifties and stood proud in front of them. He didn’t know them, but he recognized them all the same – the flashy colors of their tight kimono, wrapped low on their shoulders, their outrageous makeup and intricate hairstyle.

No doubt coming straight from the Red Flower District.

“Why’d you come?” Naruto exclaimed, displeased. The older woman ignored him, but when she stepped in, she came to stand at his side and rested a light hand on his shoulder.

“Naruto only came to Himitsu’s defense,” she said, pointing at the younger girl. “But it was her mistake for being out in the shopping district in the first place. Please don’t put the blame on him.”

Both women bowed deeply, graceful. An elegance lessened by the vast expanse of exposed skin displayed by their clothes. The oldest had crimson chrysanthemum printed on her kimono, the symbol of their cast.

One of their matriarchs then.

“Defend you from what?” Iruka asked, unable to hold his tongue and unwilling to let this go. Naruto was turbulent and aggressive at times, but it was rarely devoid of meaning or reasons.

The woman pinched her lips, cast a sideways glance at the shopkeeper who huffed, disdainful.

“She had no business being here at this hour,” he defended. “I was in my right to tell off that b…”

Displaying a speed that was very commanding for his age, Naruto zoomed past Iruka in a second and kicked the man in the leg as hard as he could. He aimed well too, straight on the bone. The man howled.

“Don’t insult my friends!” the boy yelled, furious.

“You little…”

“That’s enough!”

The Hokage’s firm voice cut through the altercation, stopped the man with a hand raised midair and Naruto bracing up for the blow, fully intending for it to land.

“It’s not your place to police anyone’s whereabouts,” the old man said to the shopkeeper. “This is what the actual police is for. And you should know better than to wander in such ways,” he added to the two women. The man swallowed his indignation with great difficulties – the women remained impassible.

“As for you, Naruto. You don’t get to hit people like this, under any circumstances.”

The boy had the gale to snort.

“I’ll hit anyone being mean to the girls,” he declared defiantly, with a hard gaze at the shopkeeper, who was more than twice his size and looking more pissed off by the second.

The Sandaime sighed, weary.

“The matter is closed, you’re all dismissed.”

“But…!”

A cold glance was enough to keep the man silent when he was about to protest. He spun around with a dramatic flurry and left the room without another word. A little stunned, Iruka turned to Naruto, ready to walk him out too, but the boy wasn’t paying attention to him.

“Come on, Naruto,” the older woman said, hard face broken into a gentle smile as she took the boy’s hand. “We’ll take you home.”

“Okay!”

He seemed unfazed by the whole thing. Being scolded by the Hokage himself had worked for a while, but he seemed immune now.

Mostly though, he probably just felt justified in his actions, and in such cases no reprimand could have any impact on him. He had gotten into plenty of fights, and he was never apologetic about defending himself or others against words and punches. Iruka supposed injunction against violence ought to be pretty useless when one, the kids were taught to fight at school, and two, none of them bothered to hold back either.

Iruka watched the two women walk out with Naruto, wondering when that had happened, what he was seeing there exactly and what he was supposed to think of it. Feeling utterly useless, he followed in silence.

.

“That shitty fucker, I’ll fucking kill him!”

“Natsuko! Mind your words in front of the kid!”

Naruto giggled as Himitsu tried to wrap her hands around his head to shelter his ears, but he kept wiggling around so that she couldn’t get a good hold. Natsuko waved her hand as if to sweep the words away.

“You should have kicked him in the balls, Naruto.”

“Natsuko!”

Naruto laughed again and popped another dango into his mouth. The sun was yet to set, so the girls weren’t at work, and they could hang outside the inn and eat the lunch’s leftovers. The others were scattered around too, talking and relaxing before they would have to go change and prepare themselves for the night.

He couldn’t pretend to understand what work they did exactly, but he knew that people looked down on them for it, and yet those same people they came to visit the Red Flower District, nights after nights. Naruto wasn’t allowed to stay out past dinnertime. The girls made sure he went back to his apartment just a few streets away and went to sleep at a reasonable hour – usually one of them who was off duty would accompany him. Sometimes they helped to tidy up his place and wash his clothes.

He didn’t get why people were so mean to them. But then again, he didn’t get why people were mean to him either – it was just… one of those things.

“You’re right, Himitsu, a kick in the balls is effective, but it’s not very subtle. You need to learn something else, Naruto. Something that will knock down most men instantly.”

“Really?” he perked up. If there was such a thing, he was very interested. He was small and weak for his age, and often wanted to fight with people who were older and stronger. Having a winning trick up his sleeve wouldn’t hurt.

“Natsuko, really…” Himitsu pleaded, although there was the barest hint of amusement on her face, despite the bruise darkening under her eye where the man had hit her earlier. Naruto greeted his teeth.

“Please teach me!” he said, earnest. He needed to learn. He needed to know how to deal with those bullies.

How to protect the girls, who were so nice and smelled so sweet, who gave him food and had taught him how to read, who were never turned him away. He wouldn’t let them get hurt.

Natsuko grinned.

“Alright, here’s what you’re going to do.”

.

Iruka heard the commotion before he spotted Naruto running down the streets, dirty brushes in hand and a delighted grin on his face. A few steps behind him a man was giving chase, clothes and hands smeared with paint, shouting threats.

Just when Iruka was about to step in, Naruto spun around to face the man and joined his hands into a seal.

“Sexy no Jutsu!”

In a puff of smoke, the eight-year-old boy was replaced by a tall, blonde and completely naked young woman, bearing striking resemblance both to Naruto and to the young girl from that time in the Hokage’s office.

The man stopped dead in his track, stumbled on nothing and crashed on the ground, at Naruto’s feet. The girl laughed, pleased, and stuck her tongue at the man, before changing back and running away.

“Suck it, you pervert!”

By the time his pursuer could get back on his feet, Naruto was long gone.

It was probably bad of him, as a teacher and an adult, that the only thing he could think of was that at least Naruto had managed to learn a jutsu properly at last. And even a useful one, quite tragically.

As for Naruto’s dubious frequentations, Iruka would feel like the worse hypocrite begrudging the boy the few scraps of support and companionship he had managed to find for himself, no matter how unorthodox.

All in all, he decided the matter was best forgotten entirely.

And that he ought to thank those women, maybe.

**Author's Note:**

> Anything involving Naruto actually having people to care for him in his chilhood is ok by me.  
You can request more on [tumblr!](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/187879592929/i-wish-you-would-write-a-fic-where)


End file.
